Jake first came to Livewire when he was eleven years old. Now nearing his eighteenth birthday, he still attends what he describes as, ‘This amazing youth charity’.

Jake had been playing lead guitar since he was six years old and was told about Livewire being a great way to meet other young musicians – it was the only place in the area for a young musician like him to meet others with the same interests.

After he had been attending Livewire for about a year, he met the first member of his band when Livewire Youth Worker, Julie Rance, introduced him to a drummer called Sam who was the same age as Jake. They began jamming in one of the open rehearsal spaces available at Livewire and from there on they jammed and socialised every week with other like-minded young people at Livewire. Jake says, ‘It is a place that makes it easy to find and talk to new friends.’

After a couple of years in which he and Sam were involved in numerous events such as the ‘Saltash Regatta’, they were asked to open a 90s show where musicians attending Livewire were given an opportunity to play live in front of a sizeable crowd. In the months leading up to this, Jake’s brother, who had been learning bass and also attending Livewire, grasped the opportunity to join the band and gain his first experience of playing live. They were now a trio…

All that was missing to complete them as a performing act was a singer, and during the 90s show, one of the vocalists who was also performing stood out – a young man called Kalum. The original three members approached him and he proved to be very keen on joining them for a rehearsal. Two months later, the now complete band ‘Stranger’, were asked to open for the ‘Livewire Rocks Fundraiser’ and this was to be their first gig performing together.

Fast forward just a few months and from January 2018 the band found themselves booked up nearly every weekend. They have had a fantastic response from the public and things have taken off far quicker than any of them expected.

Without Livewire, Jake highly doubts that he would be in a band, let alone gigging every weekend. Of Livewire he says, ‘They have given us and every budding musician who walks through the door, fantastic support, and have without doubt been the starting point for many musicians. They provide a place to learn, rehearse and play live, in a fantastic venue, all for the cost of 50p.’